Days 19, 20, & 21 October 25 to 27, 2012

---

Thursday October 25 Day 19

With a nudge from Jim, Lisa is suddenly awake to hear from Jim that Pablo just hit his 3^rd homerun of game 1 of the World Series. It is 4:00 am. Jim was listening to the game on his iPhone and immediately switched over to the iPad so that we could watch the rest of the game. What an exciting game and the crowd was loud!!! Following the Giants has been a little crazy on the sleep schedule but once the Giants finished off the Tigers at 5:30 am our time, we did manage to get back to sleep for a few hours.

We head out to a local café for a simple breakfast of coffee, orange juice and a croissant. We wanted to check out a shopping district not too terribly far from our hotel. We were not up for the long day of walking we had yesterday. As we got closer to the shopping district, the chances of seeing someone struck by a vehicle increased. At one intersection we watched in amazement as vehicles, scooters, buses and even pedestrians dodged each other. It was like a big game of chicken. As we were waiting for the light indicator stating it was OK to cross the street, it occurs to Jim that we are taking our lives in our hands. He looks over at Lisa, gives her a kiss and says; “If we don’t make it to the other side, just know that I will always love you.” We had to laugh but we were serious about looking out for the crazy motorists.

Since the weather is so nice today, we want to have a picnic. We come back to the hotel to drop off our coats and gather our goodies for lunch. Jim gets a Serrano ham and chevre sandwich and Lisa gets a spinach and ham quiche from a local patisserie. And since we need more chocolate we also picked up a chocolate molten cake. Jim finds a nice cheese sampler plate at the local fromagerie and we head off in the direction of the Eiffel Tower. We found a bench in the sun a nice distance from the main crowds and enjoyed our picnic. After we finished eating we decided to get a little closer to the crowds to soak in the sun and do some people watching. On our way we noticed 3 young ladies being questioned by the police. We are not sure but think they were part of the Gold Ring scam we mentioned in our previous post. The officers were performing a search by checking their pockets and making them remove their hats, sweaters, scarves and such. We didn’t stop to see the end result but we did comment on the fact that we had not seen anyone here that was trying the ring scam.

We spent at least an hour in the sun, watching people taking pictures of themselves and each other in front of the tower. We heard so many languages and saw so many different styles of dress. This was a very relaxing afternoon.

After some rest in the hotel we choose the Central Café for dinner which is about 50 steps from our hotel on Rue Cler. We shared a Caesar salad and Lisa had the Chateaubriand, Jim had duck confit again. Dessert was a chocolate éclair with a mousse filling. Richard was our waiter, a young man in his 20’s who could speak enough English to understand what we wanted. His smile and personality made the evening that much more enjoyable. Everything was excellent and once again Jim mentioned he could not wait to get hungry again. As we left the café Richard said, ”see you tomorrow for dinner”.

We headed back to the Eiffel Tower to get pictures at night while it is lit up. There are twinkle lights that come on for a few minutes at the top of the hour and even though we saw this on our last trip, we wanted to see it again.



Friday October 26, 2012

Once again we woke up about 4:30 to catch the Giants game in the 6^th inning with a score of 0-0. After watching the rest of the game and seeing the Giants win it was tough to get back to sleep as it was about 5:30AM. The next thing we know it is 9:30 AM and decide to stay in for a while as the weather was cold and misty, nothing like the sunshine we had yesterday. Since this is our last day in France we had to go through the task of checking in for our flight and arranging transportation to the airport. On Saturday our flight leaves at 10:35 AM so we have to leave the hotel at 7:30 to get to the airport two hours before our flight, bummer.

By the time we left the hotel it was 11:30 so we decided to skip breakfast and go straight to lunch. The chef’s special was fish and chips so Jim ordered it. Lisa had a burger with, yes, frites. There has not been a day go by where we have not had potatoes in some form with a meal. Again the food was amazing and we enjoyed every bite. The only thing that is hard for us to get used to is people smoking at the cafes, the second hand smoke does not mix well with good food.

With the weather being cold we decided we would visit a museum we missed on our first trip, the Musee d’Orsay. The museum is in an old train station and houses French art from 1800’s to the early 1900”s including the works of Monet, Manet, Renoir, Degas, Van Gogh, and others. An impressive collection and made us wish we were more of art history buffs but nonetheless we enjoyed what we saw.

Even though the weather was cold and misty a boat cruise on the Seine was our next adventure, something else we did not do on our first trip. The cruise left at 4:15 from the Eiffel Tower area and took us up river to Latin Quarter and passed Notre Dame and then back down river to our original starting point. Since we have walked around most of the city it was nice to get a different perspective from the river. The boat we chose was enclosed so we were able to keep warm. At least three times we mentioned how nice an Irish coffee would be to warm us up!

On our way back to the hotel we picked up a bottle of wine to relax and plan for our travel day on Saturday.

After a trial pack of our luggage and weighing it to make sure it was under the weight limit we went out into the cold night for our last dinner in Paris. Because of the weather and our waiter from the night before we decided to go back to the Central Café. Soon after we were seated Richard came over to say Bonsoir and ask how our day was. On a chalkboard on the bar we saw a Manhattan was the drink special of the night. For those of you that know us well that is one of our favorite cocktails so we order two.

What Richard brought to our table was nothing like what we have at home but very good. Served in a brandy snifter were rye whiskey, vermouth, and two small pieces of orange peel. In total about 1.5 ounces of liquor, nothing else. Compared to the one’s we make at home this was a two sip cocktail. Richard returned and took our order, French onion soup to share as a starter, raviolis with Fois Gras for Lisa, and a fungi pizza for Jim as we planned to share our dinners. The raviolis were to die for, on top was a large piece of pan seared Fois Gras and a cream sauce on the raviolis that must have had equal parts butter and cream. The pizza was thin and very good. Lisa started to feel a little guilty about the Fois Gras so Jim ate most of it, creamy, savory, and melted in your mouth.

Richard offered dessert but we were both very full so he suggested a Cognac to end the meal and we happily accepted. He knew this was our last night in Paris and he made the meal very special. He asked when we are coming back and we could not give him a good answer. Jim asked him if he would still be here in a couple of years if we did come back, his answer was maybe as he has hopes to open his own restaurant. He certainly knows how to treat customers so he has a good chance of being successful.

We left the café with a very good feeling about our trip but were not looking forward to the long travel day on Saturday.

Saturday October 27



The alarm was set for 6:15 AM, the earliest we have started our day since on vacation. We checked out of the hotel at 7:15 and our airport shuttle arrived soon after. Our shuttle was a very comfortable Mercedes, not a van like we envisioned. The ride from the middle of Paris is about 45 to 50 minutes with no traffic. To our surprise traffic was minimal until we arrived at the entrance to Charles De Gaul airport. The driver dropped us off and as we walked into the terminal Jim thought we were back on the streets of Paris, people all over the place dragging their luggage behind them and moving in all directions.

We found an Air France counter and got in line. As we approached one of the customer service attendants she told us we were in line 10 and needed to be in line 4, which was about two city blocks away in the terminal. So the two of us darted through the throng with luggage in tow and found another attendant who pointed us in the right direction. We dropped of our luggage and headed toward the security checkpoint. Getting through security was not too bad and surprisingly we did not have to take off our shoes. Once we got in the gate area finding a place to get a bite to eat and a cup of coffee proved difficult. There were only two places for about 20 gates and the lines were long. We then found our gate and of course our flight was delayed by about a half hour. Once we got on board we found our seats and settled in for the 11-hour flight.

Our flight left Paris at 12:30 PM Saturday, and arrived in San Francisco at 2:05 PM Saturday. What was in store was one of the longest Saturdays we have had in a long time. Jim called his parents to pick us up once we got off the plane. We made it through customs and picked up our bags just in time to meet Jim’s parents at the curbside pickup. We are tired but arrived home safely and full of fun stories.

We have provided a few pictures throughout the blog but if you are interested in seeing more, you can access them on SmugMug, give us a few days to post: http://fortes.smugmug.com



Closing Comments

First of all the two of us feel very lucky to be able to take trips like these and share with all of you. One of the reasons we like doing a blog is that is helps us to remember our trips long after they are over. With all of the things we have done over the past three weeks if we did not write them down some of our adventures would be lost to memory.

When you travel to France, and you must go there, do not believe the rumors that the French do not like Americans. It is the furthest from the truth. What the French do not like are rude people regardless of your home country. If you make the effort to speak a little French to ask for something they appreciate your effort but will most likely respond in English. Everyone we came into contact with was very helpful and courteous, even Mr. Happy in the Brussels train station. He did not smile much but did provide accurate information.

Here is a list of do’s and don’ts we came up with for your travels to Europe:

Don’ts

Expect everyone to show you respect just because you are from the U.S.

Eat at American fast food restaurants

Expect to get Mexican food, about as rare as a hoppy IPA

Big one here, do not cross any street without looking both ways at least four times

Don’t speed in France. Jim got a speeding ticket in the mail when we got home

Expect large hotel rooms unless you are willing to pay a lot

Be afraid to try new things, including foods

Drive a car in Paris



Do’s

Learn a little of the language, how to ask for a check, directions, hello, goodbye, thank you, etc

Pack a picnic set with utensils, plates, wine opener, and napkins

Find the local farmers markets

Read your train tickets carefully!

Rent a car when outside of the larger cities

Bring comfortable walking shoes

Your research before traveling on what to see and where to go

Let your bank(s) know you will be traveling so your ATM cards work

Pack lightly, bring only what you need. You can get clothes when you travel

Have a flexible schedule; take advice from the locals on where to go and what to see

Bring a laundry bag to tote clothes to and from the Laundromat

Remember to enjoy every minute – this is an adventure!

---

Photos

Champs de Elysee
Looking up the Champs de Elysee while on our walk